Video of how our eyes look during REM sleep is seriously freaking people out
'Now I don't feel like I can sleep.'
We all know that sleep is vital for our health - it's as important as eating, drinking and even breathing.
While we snooze, our brain and body is restoring itself and there are different stages of sleep that we go through during the night.
The four stages of sleep consist of three NREM (non-rapid eye movement) phases and one REM (rapid eye movement) stage.
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The REM portion of sleep is a part where the brain is more active while the body becomes more relaxed and immobilized.
It’s often characterized by relaxed muscles, irregular breathing and an elevated heart rate.
It’s the time where dreams occur but it’s also when your eyes move rapidly.
Now, we can actually see what happens to us when we’re in that state and it’s creeping people out.
A video was uploaded onto Reddit which appears to show someone in REM sleep during an MRI scan.
In the clip, the unknown person’s eyes are moving rapidly back and forth in their sleep.
In the video description, the original poster explained exactly what happens during REM sleep, writing: “Its name comes from how your eyes move behind your eyelids while you're dreaming. During REM sleep, your brain activity looks very similar to brain activity while you're awake.
“REM sleep makes up about 25% of your total time asleep. Your first REM cycle of a sleep period is typically the shortest, around 10 minutes. Each one that follows is longer than the last, up to an hour.”
But the video, showing the way the eyes move inside your head, has some people freaked out.
Taking to the comment section, one user posted: “Thanks. I can feel my eye stalks now.”
Another added: “Creepy. Now I don't feel like I can sleep as this will be etched in my brain.”
Meanwhile, one user made a valid point, saying: “No wonder I wake up and my eyes are sore, they been dancing all night.”
And another person agreed, writing: “Is this why I'm so tired all the time? Eyeballs doing cardio while I'm trying to sleep?”
One user joked: “Not all of us dream about tennis.”
While the video does seem bizarre, most people need around two hours of this type of sleep every night to help with memory, emotional processing and brain development.
Our body naturally falls into REM around 90 minutes after first falling asleep - which is pretty cool.